{"product_id":"winged-sphinx-beige-marble-statue-80cm","title":"Winged Sphinx Beige Marble Statue - 80cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA winged sphinx sits couchant, a woman's head and shoulders on a lion's body. The forelegs are extended straight in front with the paws spread, the head wears a soft cap over centre-parted waved hair with a long plaited tress falling forward over each shoulder, and one wing rises and sweeps back from each shoulder in tiered feathers. A shaped cartouche hangs on the breast carrying a lion mask in high relief. It sits on a thin rectangular slab. A single beast on its own slab is what this price buys. Warm apricot-beige marble, cream in its paler passages, rust-red veining within.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eTwo Tresses That Must Match Across a Pair\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe plaited tresses falling over each shoulder are the finest work on this sphinx and the reason a pair is harder than twice one piece. Each plait is a rope of separately cut strands, undercut clear of the breast behind it, and there are four of them across a facing pair - two on each beast. The eye compares them all: a plait with strands a little coarser than its opposite number, or stopping a centimetre short of it, is invisible on one figure alone and immediately obvious when the two stand together. So on a pair the four are cut in rotation rather than one figure at a time, a few strands on each in turn, and none is finished until all four can be seen side by side.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA couchant winged sphinx is a threshold figure, and at 80cm it is a low one - which suits it to the places a tall guardian would overwhelm: the ends of a low wall, either side of steps or a gate, along a balustrade, flanking a doorway, on pier caps. At 80cm the head sits at about thigh height, so the face is met by looking down. That low height matters for the carving too: the breast cartouche and both plaits sit well below eye level, so they are seen properly rather than lost. The apricot-beige stone with its rust-red veining holds against brick, render, gravel or dark planting on hue alone, and will not sit quietly beside white marble.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Threshold Pair at Low Height\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFourteen to sixteen weeks for one, and a pair is cut together rather than in sequence. Cutting the two plaited tresses to match across a mirrored pair is the finest work here. The slab is dressed and the beast roughed couchant upon it, both wings held as thick slabs and the extended forelegs as heavy bars. The lion body and haunches come down first, then the head and shoulders. Each wing is taken down a little at a time, turn and turn about, and the feather courses are laid outward from where they spring. The breast cartouche and its mask are carved late, and the plaited tresses last of all. Beast, wings and slab come from one block, with nothing applied or filled. Only 299kg for one beast and slab, which four people bed onto a prepared footing. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMythical guardians gather in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and coloured stone fills \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/marble-sculptures\"\u003emarble sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecification\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable class=\"spec_table\"\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHeight\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e80cm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBase\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eIncluded\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHand-Carved Natural Marble\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53840421552475,"sku":"MST-ANI-166","price":12515.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-166_1.jpg?v=1787590649","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/winged-sphinx-beige-marble-statue-80cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}